LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Shari Bock

Position: Food Service Director
School: Cass City Public Schools
School District: Cass City Public Schools
City, State: Cass City, MI

Support Shari Leave a comment Get Updates

Shari Bock was nominated by her superintendent, Allison Zimba.

"Shari Bock currently serves as our food service director at Cass City Public Schools and has worked here for the past 23 years," explains Zimba. "She manages two kitchens at our Elementary and Jr/Sr High buildings, and she also services our daycare and the local head start building. Shari's title doesn't nearly describe how much more she is to our district. She lives by the motto that, 'no child should go hungry' and worked diligently to investigate and qualify our school for free breakfast and lunch for our students."

Mrs. Bock is always looking ahead at offering additional summer feeding programs to the Cass City community and several other communities in the area. Before Cass City Schools qualified for the free breakfast and lunch program, there were several situations where Mrs. Bock would pay off lunch balances for students out of her own pocket because she knew they needed the extra help or their family was going through something she was aware of.

Mrs. Bock is not only generous regarding students, but she is also an exemplary leader amongst her staff. In addition to her food service role, she volunteers with bus communication and helps in the mornings with students and transportation changes/concerns. Throughout the pandemic, Mrs. Bock was truly a front-line worker, providing food to families in need, coordinating USDA commodity distribution, and logging in at midnight trying to order food and supplies. She quickly figured out how to get food to families with deliveries and pick-up locations. Whenever someone's in need or a fundraiser needs support, Mrs. Bock is involved somehow and in some way.

Here are a few comments from a few staff members at the school:

"Shari always goes above and beyond to ensure our students are taken care of. She spent endless hours through the pandemic organizing food deliveries to families. She gathered up groups to help with deliveries and often made special trips on her own to get things to families. Shari has reached out to our staff to see if we know of any families in need to make sure they don't go without. If there is a need, Shari ensures these students are cared for. Due to food shortages, Shari also had to get creative with her lunch menu. She spent endless hours with her suppliers trying to get food ordered. She also worked with these companies to come up with menu items that would be healthy and items that students would like," - Bill Hartzell, Cass City Jr/Sr High Principal

"Shari has distinguished herself as someone who is always willing to lend a helping hand. She has organized countless events over the years to help people in our community who were experiencing tough circumstances. The list of the many things she has done is long," - Aaron Fernald, Cass City Elementary Principal

"There are so many things I could say about Shari as a LifeChanger. An example is Shari confidentially ensuring that students' needs are met. We have a student on a specific diet plan for his health, and she noticed that he didn't want to take what the school was preparing. Shari reached out to his mom and me to see if there was something that he really liked to eat to motivate him to eat a nutritious lunch. She gave him what he requested for lunch and made sure he felt loved by the kitchen staff. Shari also notices when students are not feeling well mentally, and she gets in contact with me about her concerns and asks if there is anything she can do to help. Other outstanding things include her doing colored Easter eggs during the lockdown, making sure her kitchen staff feel cared for, giving donations for the clothing closet, and always having a good solution-focused attitude. Everyone who knows Shari knows that they can count on her to help. Our school has the best lunch around, and you can tell that Shari is creative and cares about what our students and staff eat," - Tessa Campbell, Cass City Jr/Sr High Social Worker

"In closing, Shari Bock is beyond deserving of the LifeChanger of the Year nomination. What she provides to our school district goes way beyond food service and touches the lives of so many. We are beyond lucky to have her and her amazing team," said Zimba.

320 332 336 275 330

Comments (7)

Heather mcardle Posted over a year ago

Shari has helped so many families throughout the years; my family included. When my kids were in elementary school, we hit a rough patch that lasted awhile. Shari helped in so many ways. Making sure my kids were fed, checking up on us especially during the holidays and even helped me find a job at the school. Things got better for us, and Shari kept on helping other families. She deserves this and so much more

Sean Zawilinski Posted over a year ago

So proud to have worked with amazing woman. She gives so much to the community and our children. She’s the best. Congratulations Shari ??????

Ruth Fluegge Posted over a year ago

Truly an outstanding person ! Has a very big heart & always kind ! Along with “school” events Shari is one of those friends that cares & will be there for you - love you Shari ! Very deserving of recognition!

Dorothy Scollon Posted over a year ago

Shari Bock started several other projects for children at the school and for the community at large in or near our town of 2400 . She started a BackPack program where people could donate a year’s worth of fruit and snack items to take home for the weekend to tide them over. Cost was around $100 or whatever one could donate. Students helped pack these and distribute them inconspicuously to the recipients. She initiated a community garden project with idea of having the produce grown help feed the summer lunch program. Students built the wooden squares for the soil, summer school kids and others helped weed and I donated monies for the wood and other expenses from my family foundation. Shari obtained free seeds and plantings from a local nursery. Because of watering issues and many deer and raccoons it wasn’t as bountiful as hoped, but we will try again. Precovid, a group of people had put together a Free Community dinner on Thanksgiving Day . We ate together at a sit down dinner at noon. This was started over 30 years ago and we out grew facilities twice. A few years ago, Shari offered to help me with the turkey dressing and held a session after school where she taught the kids how to chop the bread, celery and onions. She is a helpful and generous person in many ways. She is truly deserving of this award.

Dale Posted over a year ago

Shari is a very kind hearted person and is perfect for this nomination.

Scott Richards Posted over a year ago

I am a retired ISD Director of Special Education and a current Cass City School Board member who is proud and grateful to work with Shari. As a Board member I know that our district has the best person for her position. I have witnessed many times that Shari has stepped up to take on extra work that is not required of her. She does these things with pride and perfection and never fails to get the job done correctly. As a former Director of Special Education I asked Shari to mentor a rookie Food Service Director. Shari helped a shy, reticent person grow to become the best Food Service Director our organization ever had. Thanks for everything Shari, you are of truly deserving of this award and many others.

Kathy LaPonsie Posted over a year ago

Shari is awesome to work with. She makes the students feel special, but also everyone else around her. Shari pays attention to details and works hard to make things are the best they can be. She is willing to write grants and go above and beyond to help out. Thank you, Shari for all that you do and for making me feel welcomed and appreciated as your coworker.